Those Who Venture Too Close to the Sun
by ovenfreshh
Summary: What would have happened if a young girl with an uncanny ability for Alchemy had accompanied the Elric brothers on their journey? Read about the girl's adventures with Edward and Alphonse as they search for the philosopher's stone, and more! EdxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. Just my characters.

**Author's Note:** Well, I know this story isn't the most original idea, but I had this character made a long time ago, and I really wanted to write out this story. Hopefully it won't repeat too much of an individual episode. Bleh, whatever. Enjoy!

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**Chapter One**

That was it. She was in no way going to let that jerk get away with this again.

A small girl with shoulder length black hair and equally dark eyes stalked through the deserted streets of East City. Accompanying her was a small black dog, which trotted alongside her. They were both soaked to the bone due to the fact that it was pouring outside, but it was not the rain that was pissing her off. No, that was just a small amount of icing to the cake of her list of complaints that she had.

An evil smile made its way to her face as the two made it to their final destination: Eastern Headquarters. It was time to make Lieutenant Colonel Mustang's day get a whole lot worse.

She flashed her newly acquired state-alchemist pocket watch to the watch guard and the metal gate opened for her. Eastern Headquarters was easy enough to navigate in; there was the reception desk on the first floor, some small offices here and there, the lounging room, and then _his _office.

The lady at the reception desk was busy talking on the phone when the two entered the building. The girl showed her the pocket watch, and the lady pointed down the hall, motioning them to wait in the lounging room.

The girl crouched down to eye level with her dog. She had no intention of waiting to be spoken with. "'Kay Mimi, I'm going to talk with Mustang now. Why don't you go see where Lieutenant Hawkeye is?" She gave the dog a warm smile, contrary to what she was feeling at the moment.

Mimi yipped in agreement, and her tail started wagging furiously, flicking little beads of water in odd directions. On impulse, the girl clapped her hands together put them on the dog's body, which dried its fur immediately. She then did the same for herself, so that her baggy yellow sweater and blue pleated skirt were dry.

"Alright," she stood up to her full height of 5''3' (with her black boots), "I'll come pick you up later." And they both went in opposite directions.

She walked up the stairs, made a right, and walked straight up to the big door at the end of the hallway, just like she always did when she came back from a mission. The door was closed, meaning that Mustang was in a meeting already, but truthfully, the dark haired girl really did not care. So far, the Lieutenant Colonel hadn't punished her for any of her rude behavior towards him, a ranking officer. So she had nothing to worry when she barged into the room and walked straight up to Lieutenant Colonel Mustang's desk where the said man sat.

The look on his face was priceless. She put on a fake smile on her face to creep him out even more. "Hello there, sir. I'm back from my mission."

The pale, but dark haired man quickly regained his composure, and glared at the girl. "Margaret," the girl winced at the use of her full name, "I'm obviously in a meeting right now. What in the world makes you think that you can just barge in here?"

The eerie smile quickly washed off her face and in its place was a glare just as heated as the man's before her. "I don't care. bDon't/b think that you can fool me. I know how much you know goes on, and I know for a fact that you would not throw me on a wild goose chase AGAIN for no reason."

"Go away and wait your turn to talk to me. I can't have someone so small and insignificant bothering me right now. I have more important things to do." His eyes were dancing, hoping that she would take the bait.

But Margaret was not so daft. "I'm not a retard. Don't think that you can distract me with your short jokes. Besides," she said with a satisfactory smile, "I think being small adds to my cute factor, don't you?"

The Lieutenant Colonel sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Margaret smirked; she knew that he wouldn't get mad at her. It was silent for a few seconds, and Margaret finally took notice of the golden haired boy that stood behind her. His golden eyes were drilling holes into hers, and she then realized why. She had called herself short, and he was the same height as her, so she basically called him short. She sweatdropped. Oops.

"As you may know, I already have Fullmetal on the lookout for the Philosopher's Stone, and I will not have two state alchemists looking for it; it's too much of a waste." This turned Margaret's attention back to her superior.

"So you sent me on all of those meaningless missions so that I wouldn't want to look for it? All you want to do is get a promotion! You just don't want the top dogs of the military to find out that you're letting your soldiers out on too long of a leash! And _you_ came looking for _me_ to join your ranks!" She took a breath, calming herself down. "I respect your opinion, but I think that I could help this Fullmetal guy, and you know just as much as I do that I need to find the Philosopher's Stone."

His narrow black eyes glared at her wide ones, but something prevented him from refusing her plea. "Fine," he said, "Go. But if for any reason I need you back here, you will come without question."

"Please let me go! I won't—wait. What? You're letting me do this?" She asked in a slight stupor. She did not think that Mustang would let her go that easy.

And all of a sudden, the room was filled with men, blue military uniforms, and state-alchemist chains. And then the Iron Fist Alchemist walked into the room, in all of his big scary glory. Margaret shrunk back slightly. She met this man once, when she took her state alchemy exam, but he left quite a mark on her.

Instinctively, she saluted her higher ranking comrade, all the while wondering why he, and what seemed to be the rest of the state alchemists, were doing all the way in East City. Out of the corner of her eye, Margaret saw Mustang's confused expression, and a shrug from one of the officers against the wall.

_'Good, at least I know I'm not the only one here out of the loop,'_ she thought.

The uneasy look on Mustang's face was easy to read as he said, "This is a surprise visit, Brigadier General."

"From this moment on, this building will be used as a temporary Central Headquarters," the tall man's reply was cold.

Margaret shivered; she hoped that this man was not an example of what she was to become in the future.

"Bwahahahaha!" The Brigadier General, Basque Gran stepped aside to let a man with an eye patch into the room. He was followed by a woman with brown hair. "Lighten up," he laughed, "This is getting blown out of proportion."

Unintentionally, Margaret uttered the word, "Fuhrer," once she realized who this man was.

He was the head honcho of the whole country of Amestris, not to mention the man who was the commanding officer of the military. He was the one who passed her when she took her state alchemy exam not only a month ago.

The Iron Fist Alchemist spoke once again, "From here until further notice, the Fuhrer will oversee everything that goes on here."

The Fuhrer saluted the three original people in the room, who returned the gesture immediately. He then proceeded out of the room followed by the rest of his central crew.

Margaret sighed once they all left the room. "Jeez, you'd think that you'd get some sort of warning." She looked towards the Lieutenant Colonel who was still standing behind his desk, "Eh?"

He glared at her. "I suggest you start treating the man who just let you off your leash with a little more respect, _Margaret_."

She grinned up at him. Right now she just couldn't possibly hate him. "Yessir!" She paused. "And please stop calling me that."

"Wait a sec!" The blonde haired boy walked angrily to stand next to the girl. "You can't expect her to come with me and Alphonse! She'd only be a burden!"

Margaret turned her head to look at the boy. She was just a little ticked off. "Hey, jerk. I'm standing right here, you know."

He continued to ignore her. "How do you expect us to make any progress if we have to protect a girl?"

Margaret sighed. Who did this guy think he was anyway?

"You'll be fine, Fullmetal. I'm actually kind of interested to see how things turn out," the Lieutenant Colonel had a thoughtful look on his face, and he started to walk to the door.

"You can't be ser—"

"YOU'RE THE FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST?" Margaret exclaimed, pointing her index finger at the boy directly in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw Roy Mustang smirk as he walked out the door.

The boy frowned. "Yes I am. Why, did you think I'd be taller or something?" He clearly was sensitive about his height.

Margaret shook her head. "Nah, I just thought you'd be older."

The boy was silent before walking away from Margaret hastily. She watched him leave, wondering what exactly he needed the philosopher's stone for. The girl knew not to pry, but she was curious. What what a teenage girl to do? And boy, she was annoyed that the golden haired boy didn't like the idea of her going with him, but she'd prove him wrong.

_'After all, I didn't ace the alchemy exam for nothing,'_ she thought with great pride.

Realizing that she was all alone in the room, she exited and walked down the stairwell to get to the first floor. With each step, Margaret realized how tired she actually was. The trains she took were not made with luxury seats, but hard wooden benches. And with the long rides that she took, it was not easy to get any rest. She did not care that it was lunch time; all she wanted to do was take a long nap. By the time she made it to the lounge room, her eyes were drooping. She spotted the closest flat surface, and claimed it, sprawling her small body across it. Her thoughts were on the philosopher's stone as she drifted off to sleep.

"Have you guys ever heard of Doctor Marcoh?"

"No, but I suspect that Edward thinks that Lieutenant Colonel Mustang knows more than he says."

Margaret stirred in her sleep.

"Yeah, do you think that's why Ed challenged him?"

Margaret's dark eyes slowly opened. These people were being way to damn loud. "Do you people always talk so loudly when there are people sleeping in your presence?" She muttered.

The people around her froze while she sat up, her mind not quite all there.

"This isn't a bedroom, Maggie. You have as much right to sleep in here as we do to talk," a sharp voice reprimanded her.

That voice belonged to Lieutenant Hawkeye, Margaret (who preferred to be addressed as Maggie) realized. "Yeah…sorry," she said.

Maggie saw that Breda, Havoc, Feury, and Falman were in the room as well. They were probably the men that were speaking before.

"What you say about someone challenging Mustang?" She asked, her eyes still half closed.

Falman spoke up. "The Fullmetal Alchemist challenged the Flame Alchemist as an assessment for his state alchemist title. It's a mock fight, and the battle is evaluated. Edward asked for this kind of assessment himself. I think he's going to lose to the Flame Alchemist though…" his voice trailed off.

"Eh, you can't underestimate either of them." Maggie explained, "The Lieutenant Colonel is strong, but Fullmetal wouldn't be this famous for nothing, right? Besides, he has to be pretty confident in himself to challenge someone he knows is powerful." She swung her legs over the side of the table, so that she was in a sitting position.

"I think it was also an 'if I win you keep this cat,' situation," Lieutenant Hawkeye said with disinterest. Her eyes were focused on her paperwork in front of her, and one of her hands was subconsciously petting Mimi's head.

"Aw man. I guess I can't ask him to take this puppy then," Feury said with a pout.

Maggie looked over to the young soldier and saw the small black and white dog in his arms. It was really cute, she observed.

The door slammed open to reveal Lieutenant Colonel Mustang, a dazed expression adorned his face. Rapidly, he walked straight up to Feury, who looked surprised.

"Sir?" he asked unsure.

Maggie could have sworn she heard Mustang growl before he took the small dog from his underling's hands. "Dog," he stated.

_'Astute observation, retard.'_ Maggie rolled her eyes. "And this would be my time to leave. I'll be staying in the barracks. You better not lose tomorrow, sir. I think that would be quite humiliating, don't you?" She hopped off the table. "Let's go Mimi." And they exited the room.

"I LOVE DOGS!"


	2. Chapter 2

chaptaaahh 2 of _Those Who Get Too Close to the Sun_

**So I haven't updated in like two years. That's pretty sweet. But it's summer and I just recently watched the first anime series again so I'm inspired, i guess. Hehe and I realized that I incorrectly called Mustang a Lieutenant Colonel in the first chapter which i should fix...oops.**

**and fma and all of the characters don't belong to me. sweet. **

**enjoy and leave me a review if you deem it to be worthy!**

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The next morning, Maggie was found on line for breakfast in the mess hall. When it was her turn, she grabbed a tray and put it on the counter in front of her. As she moved slightly down the line, looking at the choices of food that was offered, she couldn't help but go over in her mind what she was going to do in the next several minutes.

She felt badly about how she met the Fullmetal Alchemist yesterday, that much she was sure of. She was fueled with her anger at Colonel Mustang, and not only did that make her come off as some sort of stuck-up brat, but she was also rude towards the blonde boy whose meeting she interrupted, and it had been bugging her all night. Maggie grabbed a bowl of oatmeal and put it on her tray. '_I need to apologize to him,'_ she had decided, _'without looking weak. I need to assure this person that I can aide him instead of hinder him.'_ She glanced behind her into the unusually crowded room filled with blue uniforms and silver pocket watches. She could easily pick out the Fullmetal Alchemist, though. His gold hair and red coat were hard to miss in the sea of blue.

Maggie took the last small bowl of blueberries before she showed the lady at the cash register her state alchemist watch and walked off line. Being a state alchemist did have its perks; one did not have to pay for meals in the mess where they were based. Bracing herself, she made her way to Fullmetal's table. There he was, sitting with a huge armored person, who Maggie assumed to be his famous brother. He was reading a book, it seemed, while eating a large plate of sausage and eggs.

"Can I sit here, please?" She asked.

He looked up from his reading, and narrowed his eyes a bit. Maggie's breath hitched in her throat for a second; his golden eyes seemed to pierce into hers. It was scary. "I guess so," he replied with a shrug, "there's not much _I_ can do to stop you." He took a large bite out of his eggs and kept on reading. His brother seemed to be uncomfortable, as he was shifting in his chair.

Maggie kept a small smile on her lips as she sat down in front of him. _'Someone's not bitter at all,'_ she mused,_ 'Well, I better just apologize now. Otherwise, I'll never get to it.'_

"Can you two please hear me out for two minutes?" She asked. Their attention came to her once more. She looked down to gather her thoughts. "First off, I'm sorry about the way I acted yesterday. I was rude, and I did not give you much reason to like me, much more let me travel with you." She paused and looked up at the two; they seemed to be giving her a chance. "I was caught up in my anger, and it was immature. But at the same time, I **need** to travel with you. It's for reasons that I don't feel comfortable talking about, but I'm sure it's the same for you two. I will not be a liability, but rather an asset on your journey, I promise."

The younger brother looked at the older, who looked as if he was thinking about what Maggie had said. "What brother wants you to knows is that we have been put in very dangerous situations and we don't want another person to have to go through what we do," the armored boy explained. Fullmetal nodded his head slightly. "It's not that you'd necessarily be a burden, we just can't afford protecting you at the same time as gathering information."

Maggie was almost shocked at the voice that she heard from inside it; it was that of a little boy's. It sounded weird coming from an armor suit that huge. She grinned at his explanation. "Thank you for worrying," she said. The two boys looked at each other, astonished at her choice of words. "But you don't have to worry about me. I've been trained my whole life for something like this, and I just can't pass it up."

After a few seconds, the older one sighed. "I guess I have no choice," he said. "After all, you already were assigned to come with us." His cold demeanor seemed to lighten up greatly, and Maggie knew she had been accepted.

"Really brother?" Fullmetal nodded once. "I'm Alphonse Elric, by the way," he told Maggie.

She smiled, genuinely this time. "My name is Maggie Cooper, also known as the Aqua Alchemist. Nice to meet you both!" Realizing that she was actually very hungry at that point, she poured her blueberries into her oatmeal and took a bite.

"I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, as you already know," the older brother told her.

A thought occurred to her. "Aren't you having your assessment today, Edward?" She took another bite.

He visibly flinched for a second, and then grinned. "I'm going to kick that lazy colonel's ass all the way to Xing." He chuckled evilly.

"Brother, don't go around telling people that!" Alphonse scolded, looking nervously at Maggie. He was surprised when she actually started grinning along with Edward.

"Hehe, so you don't like him much either?" She wanted to know.

"Are you kidding? He goes out of his way to make me miserable!" He ranted. "Which is why I'm going to show him up in front of the whole Eastern Headquarters."

Maggie almost laughed, but she held it in. She didn't think that she wanted to get on Edward's bad side. After all, he did have a reputation of being strong. Alphonse was laughing nervously at the antics of his big brother, who was starting to get the attention of other officers around them. '_They're funny,'_ Maggie thought as she ate more food. _'I hope Edward get's a good match out of Mustang. He sure as hell could use a little exercise instead of sitting at his desk all day.'_

"By the way Edward, what are you reading?"

He glanced down at the forgotten open book in front of his plate. He glanced at Alphonse before responding, "It's a book about famous state alchemists."

That took Maggie by surprise. "Why?"

He regarded her question carefully for a moment before answering, "We got a tip from someone that a man named Tim Marcoh researched the Philosopher's Stone. We haven't found anything about him yet, though, except that he was in the Ishbalan War and ran off."

Maggie realized that that's what Second Lieutenant Hawkeye and the others were talking about last night. Edward must think that Colonel Mustang is hiding something from him. She was impressed by his cunning; she wouldn't have thought to challenge Mustang in battle for information. "Then it's definitely a good idea to try to get information out of Mustang. Is that what you get if you beat him?"

Edward nodded. "That and-"

"Meow."

Edward deadpanned at his brother. "Really Al? You still have the cat?"

"Brother, it was cold last night! I couldn't let it go; it would be cruel!" Alphonse protested.

Edward sighed. "Don't get too attached to that thing. You're going to have to give it up today regardless." His golden eyes looked a little sad, Maggie noticed. What about the situation could possibly make him upset, she wondered. She wrote it off as something silly, and tried to change the subject.

Fortunately, the same officer she saw talking to Colonel Mustang last night approached the table. "Yo! Ed, are you ready for the assessment?" Upon closer inspection, the man had black hair was almost a green sheen to it, and small hazel eyes covered my reading glasses.

Edward looked up at the familiar face. "Of course, Maj-I mean, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" He boasted. "I've wanted an excuse to punch the colonel in the face for a while now!" He grinned childishly at the Lieutenant Colonel.

The man laughed. "I'm sure you have, Ed." He looked at Alphonse and said, "Don't let your brother do something too reckless, I'm sure Roy would have a fit if the parade grounds were completely destroyed." He winked at him.

"U-uh, yessir!" Alphonse stuttered.

Maggie smiled at their friendly banter. It seemed that the brothers didn't completely keep to themselves.

"Ah, and who's this?"

"I'm Maggie Cooper, sir," she said.

Lieutenant Colonel Hughes's eyes widened slightly. "The new state alchemist?" She nodded, feeling slight pride that someone knew of her. The major smiled and said, "Maes Hughes. Pleased to meet you! And this is..." he paused to get something out of his pocket. "MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER ELYSIA!"

All at once a picture of a cute toddler with green eyes and pigtails was thrown at her face. Maggie nearly fell out of her chair in surprise. "W-wow! She sure is a cutie," she giggled nervously.

Hughes's eyes flashed. "Well of course she is! After all, she looks just like my darling Gracia!" He seemed to wiggle in the air as he mooned over his family. There was no denying that this man was kind of weird, but Maggie sensed that he was a good person. She glanced over at Edward and Alphonse, who were paler than normal. They were probably subjected to this much more often than she was.

The Lieutenant Colonel stopped and cleared his throat. "What I came here to say was good luck, Ed, and to be at the parade grounds in an hour."

"Alright. Thanks," Edward said.

Lieutenant Colonel Hughes nodded and walked away, leaving the three teens sitting alone again. After a few moments went by Maggie said, "Well, he seems...interesting, for lack of better words."

The brothers both sighed. "He is a very nice man. He took watched over us in central while brother got his state alchemist qualification. But he can be very...enthusiastic about his wife and daughter," Alphonse commented thoughtfully. Edward nodded grimly.

Maggie laughed. "Well I'm going to go back to my room to get Mimi and then I'll head over to the parade grounds." She stood up and took her now empty bowl into her hands. "I expect you to win, Edward," she told him.

His determined eyes told her he got the message, and she walked away from the Elric brothers, feeling better about everything than she had an hour earlier.

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The brothers could easily see that Maggie was determined. One look in her dark eyes and they could tell that she meant exactly what she said. As the small girl walked away from them, Edward put his head in his hand and laughed almost harshly. "Damn that girl. I didn't expect her to persuade us like that."

"Brother, I don't want anyone to get hurt. We could have died back in Magwar's mansion if it weren't for the Tringam brothers. But...if she says that she needs the Philosopher's Stone, who are we to decide if she can come with us or not? We warned her, she knows the risks," Alphonse reasoned.

"Heh. You're right, Al." Edward agreed. He stood up and stretched. "Let's go spar outside so I can loosen up before I beat the colonel into the ground."

"Uh, okay!" Al's big body stood up as well, pushing the table away slightly, and he followed his brother out of the mess hall. He looked at Ed who appeared confident as ever as he walked with almost a swagger, but he could tell that his eyes were elsewhere. Al could always read his brother like a book, and right now his brother was uneasy.


	3. Chapter 3

**whaddupppp? i was kinda sick today so i wrote this in my hours upon hours of spare time. i hope it's alright. anyways, reviews would be nice. they make me wanna write more. although i'm kinda having fun as it is. ENJOY!**

**disclaimer: i don't own fullmetal alchemist or any of those characters. duh.**

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As expected, Mimi was sitting patiently on Maggie's twin sized bed when the young state alchemist returned from eating her breakfast. The small dog enthusiastically jumped up on her master, as though the half an hour that she was gone was actually a week. Maggie smiled and crouched down to scratch her pet behind the ears, knowing that was her weak spot.

She chuckled. "Nice to see you too, girl." She retreated her hands and stood up. "I think we might be getting out of here sooner than we thought. Edward and Alphonse tell me that they might get info on a Doctor Marcoh," she informed Mimi as though she understood. Well, she kind of did.

Maggie walked into her standard barrack room and jumped back-first onto her bed, Mimi following. She gazed up at the ceiling._ 'It seems like forever ago that I __found her,'_ she thought while beginning to unconsciously pet her dog. _'But really it has been almost two whole years...'_

_

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_

_A scrawny, younger Maggie was sitting under an old cardboard box in an entrance to an alleyway. Anyone passing by could tell that she was worn out. Her black hair was long, reaching toward her lower back, and it was greasy and unkept. Her clothes were ratty and stained from overuse. The weather in East City in the summer was both humid and hot, and without proper provisions, one would suffer. Unfortunately, that was her situation at the time._

_Maggie sighed as she shifted a little to get into the moving shadows. She did not know how to keep going like this. It was bad enough that her previous life, if that's what she could call it, was snatched from under her within a single night. It was worse when she realized that she was in East City rather than Central; a place where she knew nothing._

'How long has it been since then?' _She wondered._ 'A week, at least?' _She was disoriented from the constant changes that kept occurring, and she had no one to help her._

_"Mama! Let's go to the toy store!" Maggie heard a little boy say to his mother on the street._

_"Jack, I bought you a toy soldier for your birthday last week. You don't need a new play thing right now," the mom told her son gently._

_The boy looked down in disappointment for a moment, and then grabbed his mother's hand with a giggle. "Okay mama!" Their voices faded out within moments._

_Maggie licked her dry lips. She really was alone. It was hard to remember a time before this when she did not have any sort of human contact; there was always a person nearby that she'd grown up with. And now everyone was gone, and she was deserted. She felt her lips curving down and liquid forming in her eyes._ 'I can't think about that!' _She yelled at herself. But the tears started falling, and she felt more helpless and isolated than ever._

'What did I ever do to deserve this?'

_A small whimpering noise coming from the alley interrupted her thoughts. Maggie turned her head and squinted. It was a small puppy. And from the way it was limping on its front paw, it was injured, she saw. "Come here," she cooed repeatedly._

_The small black dog staggered slowly to the her location beneath the box. Gingerly, she picked the scared animal up and held it close. It had a gash in its leg, and it looked infected, she inspected. Maggie gave it a sympathetic glance and placed the puppy down. She took a deep breath, clapped her hands, and hovered them just over the wound. Blue power crackled around her, and immediately small water particles started collecting around the open gash. One small bead of sweat rolled down Maggie's forehead, and within seconds the mass of water that was forced into the cut was drawn out into the air-and then evaporated. The small burst of alchemical energy died down, and all that was left was the puppy, who was in noticeably less pain._

_"Arf!" It barked in glee and jumped up to lick its savior's face._

_Maggie couldn't help but smile and accept her patient's thank you. She had just one more thing to do. She tore off a small strip of her white shirt and wrapped it around the gash, to insure protection._ 'There. Now at least this dog will be safe...' _She couldn't be bothered to think anymore; she was beyond exhausted. Her little stunt would not have cost her as much on a normal day, but she barely had any energy as it was; she was in bad shape. Her eyes closed and her head lolled back against the cardboard._

_The puppy was there, curled up next to her when she woke up._

* * *

Mimi really was her only family now. Sure, she had become acquainted with Colonel Mustang and his subordinates, but Maggie and Mimi had been inseparable ever since that day. She potty trained her, taught her what was right and wrong, and after a while she started talking to her like she was child. Maggie smiled to herself, _'at least I'm not a cat lady. That would be more depressing.'_

"I think it's time to head over to the parade grounds," she said out loud. She probably had a half an hour until the mock battle started, but she wanted to get there early for a good view.

_'I AM short after all,'_ she admitted to herself unhappily.

She stood and gave herself a good stretch before opening the door. "Come on, Mimi. You could use some fresh air, too."

Mimi yipped and trotted after her master.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Lieutenant Colonel Hughes roared over the loudspeaker, "Welcome to Eastern Headquarters!"

The crowd was standing in a circle behind small barriers that surrounded the fighting area. Maggie was fortunate enough to snag a spot in the front row, right next to the Fuhrer's tent. Mimi was being held up on the barrier, which was just thick enough for her to be placed on. There was a sense of excitement and anticipation in the air, and everyone wanted to see the outcome of the match. However, right now the attention was on Hughes, who was announcing the match.

"By the way this is..." Hughes pulled a lever that would reveal what was under a large curtain (that no one noticed until that moment), "my ADORABLE daughter who just turned three this year!"

It was silent before the crowd 'boo'ed and started throwing junk at the lovestruck father. A pot hit the giant poster, which in turn fell on the Lieutenant Colonel, and squashed him into the concrete. Maggie couldn't help but laugh out loud at the man's silly antics._ 'I think he finally got too much of Elysia. Serves him right,'_ she thought, '_it's not like we need to be **constantly** reminded of his perfect family... woah there. Calm down, Maggie,'_ she scolded herself.

"Moving right along!" Hughes got out of his predicament, apparently. "In the red corner...the Flame Achemist, Colonel Roy Mustang!"

More booing ensued along with multiple cries of, "give me back my girlfriend!" To which the colonel seemed to ignore completely.

"And in the blue corner...the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!"

Instead of jeers, Edward's height was picked on. Maggie could see his face darken, and she paled slightly. "STOP CALLING ME SMALL!" Fortunately, Alphonse was there to hold him back from punching anyone before the fight even started.

When Fullmetal finally calmed down, Alphonse joined Maggie along the sidelines. The wind blew both participating alchemists' clothes dramatically, and it looked like Edward said something to Mustang, but it was too hard to hear.

"Alright. Ready," Hughes started sprinting toward the barrier. "GO!"

"Too slow!" Mustang stated as he snapped his fingers.

A single spark of energy was seen for a split second before it blew up in Edward's face. He flew back, along with the debris from the explosion. Maggie was amazed; she had never seen Mustang in action before. Edward didn't even have time to move! He was running around like a chicken with its head cut off in order to try and avoid the attacks. To make matters worse, Maggie noted, was that he had nowhere to hide from the colonel.

Until Edward ran straight into the crowd on the other side of the barrier. But Mustang knew how to get him out without moving a muscle. "Now," he smirked, "it's fairly hard to hit the target when he's so small."

As predicted, Edward reacted. Loudly. "DON'T CALL ME SMALL!"

Maggie rolled her eyes. Although she didn't love being called short either, she grew to ignore the patronizing colonel. Edward evidently had not, and he paid the price. Mustang easily pinpointed his location and snapped his fingers once again, sending Fullmetal back into the arena.

Dust now covered the area and it was getting hard to see what exactly was going on. Edward transmuted a large, intricately decorated cannon and aimed it at Mustang after managing to slice the array off his glove. Or that's what Maggie saw, anyways. What she also saw was that Mustang had his other hand in his pocket. Which meant...

**BOOM**

Edward once again went flying into the air. When the dust cleared, Maggie saw him kneeling against the ground with the colonel standing above him, fingers ready to snap. But he paused, and Edward took the chance to clap and change his automail into a blade, holding the point at the colonel's neck. Maggie's eyes widened at the transmutation that Edward preformed. She guessed that she hadn't been able to see it before because of the dust clouds-but Edward clearly did not use an array.

He clapped like she did. She had never seen anyone else do that in her life.

_'I wonder if he did the same thing that we did...'_

**A dead boy lay in the center of a transmutation circle.**

Maggie grasped her head, breathing becoming ragged. "Stop, Maggie. Don't think about this," she whispered to herself.

**Six other children lay mutilated, some gasping for breath, some already dead.**

She swayed in the air, not able to keep her balance. She felt her eyesight beginning to close in around her.

**"Come on, Maggie. We're supposed to do this." A smiling blonde girl.**

_'No...'_ She fell to the pavement.

**"Ma-Mag..." a raspy voice.**

**

* * *

**

Maggie came to about ten minutes later. Her vision was blurred, but looking at her surroundings, she could tell that she was no longer outside, but somewhere inside headquarters. Propping herself up onto her elbows, she winced at the throbbing sensation that was coming from her head.

"Ouch," she muttered. She blinked a few times to try and gain back her vision.

"Glad to see you're fairing better," a distinguishable voice said from behind her.

"Shouldn't you be helping your brother clean up, Alphonse?" she asked smartly.

He walked over to her side. Maggie realized that she had been taken to a room that was not her own. Probably the brothers', she assumed. The armor shook his head.

"Brother can clean up on his own. It was his idea to pick a fight anyways... are you okay?" He sounded genuinely worried.

Maggie slowly came to a sitting position and grabbed her forehead. "I need a pain killer," she mumbled to herself. "Other than the fact that I fainted in front of everyone, I think I'm fine. I must have gotten overheated or something." She smiled at Alphonse to assure him.

"Ah, well, if you say you're okay..." he drifted off. "Oh! I left your dog with Second Lieutenant Hawkeye. She's very cute; I wish I had a pet."

"Well Alphonse, you can hang out with Mimi all you want since she basically doesn't leave my side," she informed him gently. Somehow even though she knew Alphonse Elric to be fourteen, she found him to act younger, and she thought it was endearing.

"Really? Thank you!"

She grinned at the boy in front of her. But her mind was elsewhere. _'What the hell was that?'_ She often ignored her fleeting thoughts about her past, and for good reason. But fainting? Maggie mentally smacked herself. She could not seriously be that weak...she was fine now. She looked at Alphonse; he had said something to her.

"Hmm, sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I said we should go meet up with brother in the mess hall. You should get something in your system, especially fluids," Alphonse suggested kindly.

Maggie almost jumped up to hug the boy. She hadn't had anyone tell her to eat well in a very long time. "O-okay!" She stuttered as she stood up.

"Oh, that's right! Also my brother got some information on Doctor Marcoh from the colonel!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"Eh? Then what are we waiting for?" And all headaches forgotten, Maggie grabbed onto the armored boy's arm, and ran out of his room, dragging his heavy body along with her.


End file.
